Did you know that there are roughly 400 species of sharks? While many people fear sharks, the reality is that sharks have more to fear from humans than humans do from sharks. Watch our Google Hangout as we talk about the coolest (and often unknown) facts about sharks, the greatest threats facing sharks today, and our biggest hopes for shark conservation.

Moderator:

George Leonard, Chief Scientist at Ocean Conservancy

Speakers:

David Shiffman, Ph.D. student at the University of Miami’s Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy

Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post correspondent and author of “Demon Fish: Travels Through the World With Sharks”

Dr. Joe Quattro, professor of the Marine Science Program and Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina

Austin Gallagher, integrative conservation biologist fascinated with the adaptations of species

Did you know that there are roughly 400 species of sharks? While many people fear sharks, the reality is that sharks have more to fear from humans than humans do from sharks. Join us as we talk about the coolest (and often unknown) facts about sharks, the greatest threats facing sharks today, and our biggest hopes for shark conservation. It promises to be a fin-tastic Google Hangout that you won’t want to miss!

I’ll be moderating our Google Hangout. I’m in good company with our panelist of shark experts, including: David Shiffman, Dr. Joe Quattro and Juliet Eilperin.

I really hope you can join us! The Google Hangout is an online video chat that is going to be informative and interactive. You can submit your questions ahead of time by tweeting with the hashtag ‘#SharkWeekOC.’

Trash has infiltrated all reaches of our ocean, causing negative impacts on ocean life and coastal communities. The problem can seem overwhelming, but it is preventable. Ocean Conservancy held a conversation about trash and the ocean. We talked about the ‘just-released’ findings from Ocean Conservancy’s 2013 International Coastal Cleanup. And we heard from a leading scientist and waste management expert about where the solutions to this problem lie. Watch the video and you’ll learn what we’ve discovered, what does it all means and what we can do next?

Moderator:

George Leonard is Chief Scientist at Ocean Conservancy. A long-time scuba diver, George has worked on a range of ocean-related issues including marine debris, sustainable seafood and marine protected areas. During his graduate work, he logged over 400 dives in 3 years studying California’s kelp forests, the undersea equivalent of tropical rain forests.

Speakers:

Nick Mallos is a Conservation Biologist and Marine Debris Specialist at Ocean Conservancy. His travels take him around the world, showing him the final resting place of trash generated by our disposable culture. Nick’s work is designed to help people around the globe work to protect our blue planet. He is also an avid surfer and works hard to catch a wave wherever his travels take him.

Chelsea Rochman has her BS in Biology from UCSD and recently received her PhD in Marine Ecology from UC Davis and San Diego State in 2013. She is currently researching the fate and toxicity of plastic debris in freshwater and marine habitats. Specifically, her expertise is in the sorption of priority pollutants (pesticides, trace metals, flame retardants, and plastic additives) to plastic debris and from plastic debris in aquatic habitats and the fate and toxicity of this debris in marine organisms. In addition to researching plastic debris in coastal habitats, she has experience researching debris in the North Pacific Gyre and the South Atlantic Gyre as part of separate research cruises.

Ted Siegler has 40 years of experience working on solid waste management issues. He served for 15 years as Technical Consultant to the American Plastics Council on increasing the recovery of plastics for recycling, and has spent the past 20 years working on capacity building for local and central governments in 14 countries around the world. Ted specializes in recycling collection and processing, economic analysis, and municipal finance and has been with DSM Environmental Services, Inc. since 1987. DSM specializes in waste reduction and recycling issues for municipal and state governments.